In a shocking development, a former Kentucky sheriff has confessed to the fatal shooting of a judge inside courthouse chambers, as detailed in recent court filings. As the trial approaches, his defense team is expected to focus heavily on an insanity plea.

Shawn “Mickey” Stines, who stepped down as sheriff of Letcher County following the incident in September 2024, acknowledged that he shot District Judge Kevin Mullins during an altercation at the Whitesburg courthouse. This admission was revealed in court documents obtained by the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Surveillance footage, though lacking audio, reportedly shows a man identified as Stines drawing a firearm and shooting at Judge Mullins, who was seated at his desk. The footage depicts the suspect moving around the desk, aiming the gun at the judge, and firing multiple times. Stines faces charges of first-degree murder and the murder of a public official.

This confession coincides with efforts by Stines’ legal team to argue that he was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time of the shooting. This strategy indicates that they may be crafting a comprehensive insanity defense, as reported by the news outlet.

During his arraignment at the Morgan County Courthouse in West Liberty, Kentucky, on October 1, 2024, Shawn “Mickey” Stines was seen glancing at the prosecutors. The former sheriff stands accused of the murder of District Judge Kevin Mullins. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

In a document written a few days after the shooting, a social worker who met with Stines in jail said he had remained in “an active state of psychosis” and didn’t appear to understand the criminal charge against him. Stines had “episodes of combativeness which has required pepper spray,” The Associated Press reported.

In a deposition Stines gave investigators in the days leading up to the shooting, he claimed to have been suffering from dizziness, headaches, sweating and memory loss brought on by California encephalitis, a neurological disease resulting from bug bites, the Herald-Leader reported. 

Prosecutors have not commented on the latest filings. Stines’ legal team has argued that a portion of his mental evaluation should remain sealed, a position that the judge recently upheld.

Stines resigned as sheriff days after the shooting and is being held without bond in eastern Kentucky.

District Judge Kevin Mullins was killed by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines in his judge’s chambers, authorities said. (Kentucky Court of Justice ;Letcher County Sheriff’s Office)

Under Kentucky law, proof of mental incapacitation or extreme emotional distress could take the death penalty off the table in Stines’ case, the Herald-Leader reported. However, a defendant’s standards of intent reportedly differ in civil cases, with Mullins’ widow filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Stines and three other Letcher County Sheriff’s Office employees in September. 

Kimberly Mullins and the couple’s two children are reportedly accusing Stines of assault and battery, while alleging that three other sheriff’s employees did not warn or protect the judge from Stines, who was showing signs of being anxious, violently paranoid and psychotic. 

On Nov. 12, Stines admitted to shooting Mullins in his answer to the civil lawsuit, adding that he was “exhibiting paranoid and psychotic conduct,” according to the Herald-Leader. 

Judge Kevin Mullins, sitting at his desk dressed in a suit, hands his phone over to Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines shortly before being shot dead in his own chambers. (Kentucky State Police)

Stines’ attorneys reportedly moved to dismiss the case under the sovereign immunity doctrine, which shields government officials from civil liability claims while acting in their official capacity. They also asked a judge to dismiss the negligence claims against him, citing the accusation must show proof of intent. 

“As Sheriff, he was a county employee and, therefore, is entitled to the same sovereign immunity granted to the County itself,” his attorneys wrote, according to the Herald-Leader. “Based on this, the official capacity claims against Shawn Stines must be dismissed.”

Additionally, Stines’ attorneys reportedly detailed a possible defense they could use to portray their client’s state of mind during the alleged killing, insisting that he “had no control,” and was suffering from “pre-existing conditions.” 

Stines’ attorneys did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Last week, a judge reportedly denied two motions to dismiss the criminal charges against Stines, with his attorneys saying prosecutors never informed the grand jury of their client’s mental state when the crime was committed and that the proceeding was intentionally not recorded.